War & Beauty

I can't believe I did it... I completed a marathon of 30 episodes of this Hong Kong Drama serial in a week... wow! This broke my previous record of Jewel in the Palace in 1.5 weeks... yipppeeee...

Here's my reviewer comments on the show: Great casting, I think Sheren Tang as the arrogant, scheming yet vulnerable Imperial Concubine Yuet is wonderful. In the first few episodes, she outshines everyone else in her more evil than evil character. In the midst of the series, she transformed into a pitiable has-been power figure, even cowering at the mercy of the Empress and later after the death of her daughter, she rises again to compete as No. 2 in power. Bowie Lam does well at his role of the Imperial Physician Suen who finds himself drawn into the power struggle and tricked of his emotions by an Imperial Concubine wanna-be Yuet-ying (played by Gigi Lai Chi).

What I really like about the show: The plot is very engaging, many schemes are being hatched by the various characters, all trying to win the favour of the Emperor and shows the fragile nature of power. Human emotions are cleverly portrayed: betrayal of trust, hurt, anger, entrapment, fear, suspicion, greed etc.

Rating: **** (4 stars)